Orange light shines through the cave and wakes up Michael who's have swapped with Lyala. The rain stopped in the middle of the night so this morning is rather moist. Michael feels his body become sticky from the atmosphere.
They put on their cloth and went down the mountain. Staying here is riskier than waiting for a rescue team to find them. So they both agree that their best option is to go to the north camp.
However, when they are about to head out they've realized something. The water level has not been reduced. They both can't climb trees for that long with Mcihael being injured in the leg and Layla's arm being injured.
Without the healing herb, They are not in the right condition is scale these trees. So their plans have been put to stop for now. If they wait another day, the water level would most likely reduce to the point where they can walk.
"This is boring~"
"..."
"Do you have anything fun to do?"
"...." Michael ponders what in this scenario might be fun. A fun game that didn't require a tool to play is not something that the Boniha excels at making. Layla is unable to come up with any amusing activities to partake in while they wait for the water because they don't have much on them.
"Maybe we could play tic-tac-toe?"
"What's that? Do we play with our feet?"
"No, it's not that toe... It plays like this" Michael gets his silver knife to carve into a wall. He creates a 3 by 3 square with 4 lines. "We take turns and put X or O in one of these boxes, we win by lining 3 of them in a straight line or diagonal line."
"....." Layla makes a weird face.
"What?"
"I don't understand....."
Layla scratch her head, and Michael also did the same. Then he explains how the game works by playing it with himself for the first three rounds. Until Layla thinks that she and play it.
"No, it's not your turn yet!"
"Why do I have to wait? I already win!"
"It doesn't work like that!"
"It totally does! You don't know how to play this game!"
"I just taught it to you!"
"You're wrong!"
They play a total of 50 games together with Michael winning almost all of them. Half of the time is spent arguing with the girl about how the rules work. She tried to place down her X when it was not her turn.
"This is game bullsh*t! If I could put my X down you would already lose!"
"I kept telling you that's not how it works!"
"Who made this game anyway!? That guy must have thought that he was smart for making this stupid ass game."
".... it's the emperor. I think?"
"UH! I knew it these mainlanders create the game to trick people!"
"You're just bad at it..."
"NO, your bad!"
"But I keep winning!"
"I'm not playing anymore!"
Layla walks off frustrated. Michael can't do anything about it, even if he let her win she would take a step further to lose. Michael sigh. Now they are bored with nothing to do. He walk off the front of the dave and stared into the sky.
The mountain is far fewer trees than in the jungle, So Michael could see clouds in the sky very clearly. He imagines it to be all sorts of things. Before long the sunset above their head and both of them discover another problem.
They don't have food!
Neither of them brought food when escaping the village, and both of their condition is less than optimal to hunt. Even if they can, the majority of living beings wouldn't be near the Apex predator territories so, they couldn't rely on animals. Worse the monsters are also afraid of the Apex, even more than normal animals.
Out of options, they both decide to wait. They could still survive even for 3 or more meals so, they didn't have much to worry about. After the water level is lower, they would be able to find more food.
In the Afternoon Layla came to him and they play another round of tic-tac-toe. Without her knowledge. she learned this game bit by bit and start to win some. However, Michael still holds a lead in wins.
Soon The sun fell into the horizon and darkness covered the place. Without crackling, they both have to sleep on cold nights. They agreed on the same method as last night where one keep watch and the other slept.
This time Layla is up for the first shift and Michael went to sleep. His eyes close down as the coldness of the stone put him to sleep.
-----
Soon he woke up in a familiar space. The same old black space with a lot of light scattered across it. Michael did not like this place because of the last time he got punched. However, Michael also felt like this place is a part of him. Like it's natural to come here when you sleep.
In the middle of the darkness, A bulky man sits in silence. It's the same guy that Michael saw earlier.
"Hello?"
"Oh! So what's the situation outside?"
"Well, we're still stuck in the Apex predator territories." Michael pause and realize something "Wait you know?"
"Yeah, after being here for a whole day I figured out quite a lot of things. First I'm not real"
"..."
What is this man smoking? The bulky man doesn't make sense to Michael. The whole thing doesn't make sense to him at all. Why is this space here and who is this man exactly?
"Second, I think this is your dream realm. Where you could enter via sleeping. I've heard quite a lot of people have this dream realm thing. Never thought that I would be in one."
The man sways left and right like he's humming to some rhyme.
"Third, I think that if I'm right I might have been sent back in time."
"...."
"Lasty, I think I'm pretty smart."